Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference Monday afternoon:
I was able to watch the game last night on the plane home. It just reinforced my feelings after the game — disappointed. I thought we had a lot of good opportunities to win the game that we weren't able to capitalize on. I thought Seattle did a really good job with the things that they did and made a lot of good plays. I know how hard the players worked this week. I know how hard they prepared. Collectively, we're all disappointed.
With that being said, we need to move on to the next challenge, which is Miami. We don't control our destiny anymore, but we do control the next game. We need to be able to put ourselves in a position to capitalize if an opportunity arises. The only way to do that is to win next week. To start that process is to start preparing for Miami, start focusing on Miami and getting ready for them.
On the pass rush…
I think there have been lots of opportunities. I think there were opportunities again this past week that we didn't get there. A couple times we had guys come clean and either didn't make the play, or he was able to throw it away. We've been facing a lot of these very mobile quarterbacks, a lot of move-the-pocket-type things, which makes it more challenging. Understanding how to play them and what we need to do to play them, that helps generate pressure.
We had three sacks last week. We weren't able to get anything done this week in terms of that. We're going to face different types of quarterbacks each week and we have to be able to adjust to that quarterback.
On if he has been more involved with the defensive playcalling…
I spend time with the defensive staff and go through the things that we have in place. I liked the things that we had in place this week. I think there were some really positive ways that we had to take advantage of some of the things that they were doing. We weren't able to as much as I would have liked.
I give Seneca Wallace a lot of credit. He made one play there in the red zone where he threw it sidearm, underarm, on Darrelle [Revis] in tight man-to-man coverage. They were able to get it in. Another play on third down where he was able to get it off with pressure in his face, the receiver made a nice play and was able to make the linebacker miss. It was third-and-five and he was able to fall for the first down there. They made some really good plays. That's usually the difference in the game.
On the players' execution…
What I'm saying is I think that we've had different chances, whether it was against Denver where we had someone come clean a couple different times, or whether it was this game where we had some opportunities.
Sometimes it's a function of not being able to get there as quickly or missing the play. Sometimes it's a function of their player making a really good play. I don't think it's necessarily one specific area. Sometimes you need to cover longer, or have tighter coverage. It's the two phases working together. If they don't work together, then you're not going to get the same level of production that you had earlier in the season.
On if he meets with management…
Mike [Tannenbaum] and I get together every single day. We got together this morning. We spent time on the plane yesterday. He and I see each other pretty much every single day. Woody [Johnson] will come in throughout the course of the week and watch practice. I usually have lunch with him and talk to him at different points during the week. What we're talking about is who we're playing, or things we have to get done in terms of the roster, inactives, the next opponent and things like that.
On if he would like to hear a vote of confidence from management…
No. What I'm looking for is to give the players a good plan to beat Miami. That's what I'm looking for. That's what I want to do. That's what our focus is going to be on. That isn't a focal point of mine at all.
On if he has second-guessed any of his playcalling decisions against Seattle…
Anytime a decision doesn't work you look back on it and think about how it could be different. That's the natural progression. Even when things do work, sometimes they work in a way that you didn't draw it up, or you didn't expect it to work. It could easily have gone the other way. It's part of the process of going through and seeing where you can improve.
On if he can talk to the league about the delay-of-game call…
You just have to play out what's there. The spot came a little bit later. Jay [Feely] was trying to clear off space, an area there where he was going to have his plant-foot, and you can't use the same amount of time at that point because the amount of time that's left is lower. At that point, you just have to deal with the turf where it is, or with the covering that it has, and make the kick.
It was a combination of having less time to clear off the spot. They could have had better awareness of where the clock was in relationship to Jay needing to be set. It's not just Jay — it's Jay, it's [Reggie] Hodges, it's James [Dearth]. It's the whole group being aware of the clock when the ball is finally spotted.
On the decision to try to convert on fourth down late in the game rather than punting…
At that point I felt like with the weather the way it was and with the type of defense we were going to get in the two-minute drive, it was going to be important for us to have the two-minute warning, the timeouts and all those things that we had at that point because the drive was probably going to be a longer drive. With the weather the way it was, you really needed to have the ability to either incorporate some runs or have the timeouts to stop the clock if something happened like a sack, something along those lines, or a penalty, any of those things.
I thought it was important to try to keep those at that point. Also understanding their coverage, which wasn't going to allow anything vertical down the field based on what they've done, it meant you were going to have to work it down the field. Those are usually 16-second increments. I wanted to maximize the amount of time, the amount of timeouts and all those things. I thought it was a very manageable fourth-down situation with it being fourth-and-2. We had some good matchups inside with what we had called. When those didn't pan out, Brett [Favre] saw Laveranues [Coles] break upfield and took a shot at that.
On choosing to kick a field goal on fourth-and-one at the beginning of the game…
It was the first drive of the game. It was lousy weather. Points were going to be at a premium, which is exactly what it was. Points were at a premium at that point. Points were at a premium throughout the course of the game. I've been on the other side of those decisions. Indianapolis, my first year, we went for it on fourth down, didn't score and ended up losing the game by three points. I know Miami earlier in the day had a fourth down where they went for it and didn't get the conversion.
You hate to leave points on the field that early in the game, especially considering the weather conditions. Really, it's a small margin for error throughout the course of the game in terms of overall points. [I'd] hate to be looking at it where you do score a touchdown late in the game and now you're down by three.
On choosing to punt rather than have Feely kick a field goal…
Typically, a field goal that originates inside the 5-yard line is about 99 percent successful. A field goal from 50 yards is I think about 26 percent successful. Then you add the weather conditions the way that they were. Now you punt it, you get them backed up, which is what we did when we had them on the 6-yard line. If you can hold them there, usually those drives, subsequent drives convert into points.
On if NT Kris Jenkins is banged up…
I think it's a combination of things. Kris is not a one-man band. It's the whole defensive group playing sound defense. When you do that, that opens up opportunities for different players along the front or in the back end. It's not just Brett on offense and it's not just Kris on defense. It's all of us. There's definitely a heightened awareness of his ability to affect the game. I think that has come into a lot of game plans. I don't blame our opponents for doing that. He's been very effective, so a combination of all those things.
On if Favre will play next year…
He and I don't even touch on that subject. Whatever decision Brett makes is a decision that he'll make after the season. I wouldn't expect him to be thinking about it. I'm not going to be thinking about it. That's something for once the season is done.
On third-down conversions…
You'd love to be able to look at that and say "All right, it's just this one area." Whether it's the third-down conversions or fourth-down conversions, we've thrown the ball on fourth down, we've run the ball on fourth down and we've mixed it up on third down between runs and passes. It's been different personnel groups. We've tried a lot of different things. It's not just one area.
I'd say the same thing with our production in the running game: it's not just one area where you can say "OK, if we just improve the edge on defense, we'll have less yards rushing against us." On offense, you can't just say "Well, if you just improve the execution of this one route or this route combination, or if we move Laveranues around." We've put guys in different spots. We've gone 11, that's one personnel group. Out-one is another personnel group. We've gone empty formations. We've tried a lot of different things.
At the end of the day, some of it has just been execution. We've had guys open and maybe missed them, we've had guys open, didn't catch it. All of those things are coming into play.
On the irony of playing against QB Chad Pennington…
We started the season that way as well. When we released Chad, you know that anytime you release a good player, you have a good chance of playing against him. I think Chad is a good player. I like Chad. I'm happy for Chad's success. I've always had a good relationship with him and I really respect him. None of those things have changed.
He has played really well, which would be my expectation. I think he's a good player. He's a smart player. We play a lot of good quarterbacks through the course of the year. He's another good quarterback that we have to play this week. For him personally, and his success personally, I'm really pleased for him and for his family.
On if there is a feeling of helplessness now about making the playoffs…
We had plenty of time to deal with that issue. Things were in control. Things had been in our control, and they're not any more. The one thing that is in our control is Sunday. That's all you can do. Everything else that happens, happens. It's in New England's control. It's in Baltimore's control. They control their games. They don't control ours. We control our game.
On the plane ride back from Seattle…
We were on the runway for quite some time [because of] the weather and de-icing and things like that. It gave you extra time to watch tape.
On if the entire team watched tape…
No, just individually.
On preparing the team mentally for Sunday…
I think that the approach that we had last week was excellent. I think that we've had good approaches the last couple of weeks, a lot better than we had prior to that. I don't ever question these guys in terms of how much they care, how hard they work, or any of those things. I think that the one thing that we do need to do is execute better when we get to the game on Sunday.
There are some things that we easily could have done better. It's important for them to understand what those things are, and when you get the opportunity the next time, to do it better. A lot of that is awareness, is education and is being able to see that. I'm sure that these guys will come back and practice hard, work hard and go out and look to execute the best we can.
On if he'll try different motivational approaches…
It's not a stagnant process. Things are always changing in terms of, it could be the length of practice, where we practice, meetings or the setup. All of those things are constantly being adjusted and you're trying to tinker with it to get the best formula. It really comes down to individual preparation, the focus at practice when we do have those opportunities, the focus in meetings and then the ability to take that information, to take that work, and now apply it when we play on Sundays.
On if he will judge the season based on whether or not the Jets make the playoffs…
I'll look at the whole course of the season. I think that we had this opportunity this week and that's what we need to take advantage of. Whatever else happens outside of that really isn't in our control anymore. Our ability to control what's in front of us is what's important to me.
On if he slept Sunday night…
No, I went home this morning for a little while. I think we got in at like 5:30 in the morning. I went home for a little while, then came back and got working on Miami.
On Favre…
I think the thing that has always defined Brett is, whether he's had success or whether he has not had success, he deals with them both the same way, which is really important. He's an inherently competitive guy. He's going to look at what he did and he's going to try to correct what he did, but he's not going to let that affect the next throw. I think that's a big part of why he's been so successful.
You want quarterbacks to have a short memory in terms of not letting the last throw affect the next throw. You want all players to have that type of memory. With quarterbacks and with defensive backs, if you get caught up in that and get into a funk, then you're letting all those subsequent plays slip away. He talked about that from really our initial call. We've talked about that at different times — the ability to handle adversity and the ability to handle success.
